Major internet gatherings set for Cape Town

From DION HENRICK in Cape TownCAPE TOWN – I-WEEK, the annual gathering of the internet industry professionals, will held in Cape Town in August, a month earlier than its traditional time slot.

The change in timing is to accommodate iWeek’s new partners including the Internet Society and the African Internet Exchange Point (IXP) Association (AFIX) who will hold the ninth annual Africa Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF) at iWeek.

Founded and hosted by South Africa’s Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA), iWeek will hold in the coastal city for the third time since it has been hosted for 17 years.

The conference and exhibition will attract world-renowned experts and speakers.

Most of the conference sessions are slated for August 20 to 24.

Meanwhile, AfPIF will this year be held in South Africa, home to the oldest IXP)in Africa, the highest density of IXP’s per city in Africa, and the largest carrier neutral data center in Africa.

As a thriving terrestrial infrastructure market and the continent’s most mature peering ecosystem, South Africa will provide a unique opportunity for attendees to learn from its remarkable experiences and explore a growing number of opportunities in the region.

Over 200 participants attended last year’s AfPIF in Abidjan, Ivory Coast including providers of international, regional, and sub-regional transport, transit, and content as well as more than 20 IXPs from Africa and beyond.

Dawit Bekele, Regional Bureau Director for Africa at Internet Society, said the Internet Society held the first AfPIF in 2010 after realisation that most of African internet traffic is exchanged outside the continent yet the region could save costs by exchanging the traffic locally.

The target is to have at least 80 percent of the Internet traffic consumed in Africa being locally accessible, and only 20 percent sourced outside the continent by the year 2020.

“We are getting closer to that target every year thanks to AfPIF and many activities that promote interconnection and hosting in Africa,” Bekele said.– Guardian

Major internet gatherings set for Cape Town
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Apr 17.
From DION HENRICK in Cape Town CAPE TOWN - I-WEEK, the annual gathering of the internet industry professionals, will held in Cape Town in August, a month earlieFrom DION HENRICK in Cape Town CAPE TOWN - I-WEEK, the annual gathering of the internet industry professionals, will held in Cape Town in August, a month earlie
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